5 Tips on How to Reuse your Pumpkin after Halloween
Published on October 9, 2024
Who doesn’t love carving a scary or silly face onto a pumpkin for Halloween? It’s as important (if not more important) as going trick or treating! However, what do you do with the pumpkin once Halloween is over?
According to the Irish Independent (2022), more than one million pumpkins bought in Ireland during the Halloween season will end up in landfill. That equates to two-thirds of all pumpkins purchased in Ireland during that year. By doing this, we are wasting food and increasing global warming by not disposing of the pumpkins properly.
We have five practical ideas on how you can make the most out of your Halloween pumpkin this year!
1. Make a bird feeder
You don’t fancy eating pumpkin? Maybe someone else will like it. Turn it into a bird feeder and fill it up with bird seed for them to nibble on. Hang it on a string on the tree and watch the birds come and eat it up.
2. Roast the seeds
After you have scooped out the inside of the pumpkin, don’t be so quick to disregard the seeds. Roast and reuse them. Place them on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes at 200C (or 180C fan). Serve as a garnish on your salad to add a crunch to every bite! Try our Kale and Apple Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette and add them to the top!!
3. Share it with the wildlife
Birds, squirrels and other wildlife love pumpkins. Cut it up and put it out for them to eat this Autumn. It’s better in their stomachs than in landfill!
4. Make some delicious meals
Have salvageable leftover pumpkin and don’t want it to go to complete waste? There is so much you can make with delicious vegetable! Here are our 3 most favourite recipes: Pumpkin, Spinach and Walnut Spaghetti, Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad and Spinach and Pumpkin Curry.
5. Use it as a flowerpot
If the pumpkin is still relatively fresh, it can be used as a flowerpot. Just line the inside with newspaper so the soil doesn’t fall out and plant a flower inside. Scary carving or no scary carving, it is a perfect table centrepiece.
